Nigella Lawson’s florentines
This is the one recipe using glacé cherries in which I won’t beseech you to use the dark natural-coloured ones; we want that garish, chemical red here. I won’t claim this isn’t a fiddly recipe, but you need patience rather than dexterity or expertise, and they are so good it would be a pity if you never found the calmness from which to produce them.
Makes approximately 30
whole, blanched almonds 100g
mixed candied peel 90g, in whole chunks, not ready chopped
glacé cherries 40g
unsalted butter 25g
caster sugar 90g
plain flour 15g
double cream 150ml
dark chocolate 100g
white chocolate 100g
baking sheets 2, greased
Preheat the oven to 190C/gas mark 5. Chop the almonds so that you have some fine pieces and some chunks of nut. Chop the candied peel and cherries into fairly small, even pieces. In a heavy-based saucepan, melt the butter and sugar without letting it catch. Add the flour rather as if you were making a roux for a white sauce; it should form a ball of paste. Take off the heat and whisk in the cream. The mixture should be smooth, so put it back on the heat briefly to beat out any lumps. Stir in the fruit and almonds.
Drop heaped teaspoonfuls of this mixture onto the greased or non-stick baking sheets. It will look quite liquid and will spread, so leave generous space between the blobs. Place the sheets in the oven and cook for 10-12 minutes. They’re ready when they’ve spread into larger circles and the edges are golden-brown. Take them out of the oven and leave for 2-3 minutes to firm up; at this point you can ease them back into shape if you need to, as they will be very malleable. When you feel they can be lifted, slip a metal spatula or palette knife underneath them and transfer to a wire rack to cool, ensuring you leave them flat.
Melt the dark and white chocolate in separate bowls in the microwave, and paint the flat side of each florentine; I use a pastry brush for this. Be prepared to paint over and over to get a good thick coating. Using a fork, make wavy lines on the chocolate on each florentine, and leave to dry.
From How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson (Chatto & Windus, £26)
Giorgio Locatelli’s baci di dama
In Italy, we have a tradition of calling little sweet things baci (kisses). And I always loved baci di dama (lady’s kisses), which our cousins, the Gnocchis, made at their pastry shop in Gallarate. Traditionally they are tiny hazelnut biscuits sandwiched together with chocolate, but we make them entirely with chocolate.
Makes around 40 biscuits
plain flour 250g
unsalted butter 200g, softened
ground almonds 150g
caster sugar 200g
cocoa powder 20g
dark chocolate 50g, minimum 70% cocoa solids, cut into small pieces
In a bowl using a wooden spoon, or in a food processor, cream together all the ingredients, except for the chocolate, until smooth.
Put into the fridge for 30 minutes, covered with a clean cloth, to firm up.
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4.
Take a teaspoon of the chilled dough at a time and roll into balls.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and lay the balls on top, pressing them down lightly to flatten them at the base. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes until firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down.
Put the chocolate into a bowl and sit it over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water.
When melted, transfer it to a piping bag and allow it to cool down to room temperature.
Take pairs of biscuits, pipe a little chocolate on to the base of one and sandwich the other on top. The biscuits will keep for a few days in an airtight tin.
From Made at Home by Giorgio Locatelli (Harper Collins, £26)
Simon Hopkinson’s parmesan biscuits
I first tasted these extraordinarily delicious biscuits at Rachel Cooke and her husband Tony’s north London home.
Makes about 25-30
unsalted butter 100g, cold, cut into chunks
plain flour 100g
salt a pinch
cayenne pepper a pinch
mustard powder ½ heaped tsp
mature cheddar 50g, finely grated
parmesan 50g, finely grated, plus a little extra to finish
egg 1 large, beaten
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Put the butter and flour into a food processor, together with the salt, cayenne pepper and mustard powder and cheeses. Briefly process all together to begin with, and then, finally, pulse the mixture in short spurts as you notice the mixture coming together – as pastry, if you like. Once the texture is clearly “clumpy”, tip it all out onto a lightly floured surface and deftly, but thoroughly, knead it together until well blended and smooth. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Gently roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to about a 2mm thickness. Using a 3-5cm pastry cutter, cut out biscuits the size you wish for, depending on the occasion. Lay them out on a greased baking tray about 2cm apart; it may be necessary to bake them in 2 batches.
Carefully brush the surface of each biscuit with beaten egg and sprinkle over a little finely grated parmesan. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, or until a gorgeous golden colour is achieved; the superb smell will also inform you that they are ready. Carefully lift off the tray using a palette knife and place on a cooling rack. Serve while still just warm if possible.
From The Vegetarian Option by Simon Hopkinson (Quadrille, £12.99)
Nigel Slater’s brandy snaps, apple and vanilla cream
Makes 4
For the brandy snaps
caster sugar 2 tbsp
golden syrup 2 heaped tbsp
butter 60g
plain flour 5 heaped tbsp
ground ginger 1 tsp
brandy 1 tsp
sesame seeds 4 tsp
For the filling
bramley apples 400g
cloves 3
sugar 1 tbsp
sultanas 50g
double cream 150ml
mascarpone 100g
icing sugar 1 tbsp
vanilla extract a little
Make the brandy snaps first. Set the oven at 150C/gas mark 2. Lightly butter a baking sheet. In a small pan, warm the sugar, golden syrup and butter. As soon as the butter has melted, remove from the heat and stir in the flour and ginger and then the brandy.
Place heaped teaspoon-sized mounds of the mixture on the baking sheet, leaving them plenty of space to spread. Scatter a good pinch of sesame seeds on each. Bake for about 10 minutes until golden brown, then remove from the oven. Leave the snaps on the baking sheet for five minutes, then carefully slide a palette knife under each one to loosen it. When the snap is firm enough, but well before it has had time to cool and harden, lift it off the sheet on to a cooling rack. Repeat the baking with more of the mixture. You will probably end up with 12-15 little biscuits, depending on the generosity of your measurements.
Now make the filling. Peel, core and chop the apples then let them cook, with 3 tablespoons of water and the cloves over a low to moderate heat until soft and fluffy. They will need a lid and a regular stir to stop them sticking. Add the sugar and the sultanas once the apples have started to soften, then set aside to cool.
Lightly whip the cream until it is thick and soft, but stop before it will stand in peaks. Fold in the mascarpone, the icing sugar and a teaspoonful of vanilla extract.
To assemble, place one snap on a plate, add a spoonful of vanilla cream, then a spoonful of apple then another biscuit, more cream and then another biscuit. Repeat with the rest of the biscuits, cream and apple to make four layered desserts.
Originally published in the Observer. Nigel Slater is the Observer’s food writer
Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich’s chocolate and pistachio cookies
Makes 12 large cookies (or 24 bite-sized ones)
chocolate 250g (we use a 60% cacao dark chocolate)
unsalted butter 50g
eggs 2
light brown soft sugar 175g
strong white bread flour 60g
baking powder ½ tsp
table salt a pinch
pistachios about 200g, very roughly chopped, to coat
Melt the chocolate and butter together in a bowl in the microwave or over a double steamer. In the meantime, whisk the eggs and sugar to a sabayon – that is, until the mixture is very thick and fluffy. Line two baking trays with baking parchment.
Fold the melted chocolate into the eggs. Add the flour, baking powder and salt, then fold together until you have a lovely even mixture. Allow to rest for about 30 minutes in a cool place or pop in the fridge for 10-15 minutes (you want the dough to be manageable but not set). If you forget about it in the fridge and it sets solid, you will have to bring it back up to temperature in a warm place so that you can handle it easily.
Divide the dough into 12 and, using two spoons or a piping bag, shape into balls of about 50g each. I usually use weighing scales, but you can be more relaxed if you prefer and just estimate the size.
Spread the chopped pistachios on a flat tray and drop the balls of chocolate goodness onto them. Flip them to coat all over, then transfer to the baking trays, allowing about 5cm between them as they will spread in the heat of the oven.
You can keep the unbaked cookies in the fridge until you are ready to bake or, alternatively, freeze them for up to 2 weeks and simply thaw before baking.
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Place the trays in the centre of the oven for 8-9 minutes (allow 12 minutes if the cookies have been chilled). Remove and leave to cool on the trays while the chocolate sets fully. Once the cookies are cool you will be able to pick them up quite easily, but the middle will stay nice and soft like a moist chewy brownie, so handle with care. These keep well for up to a week in an airtight container or sealed bag.
From Honey & Co The Baking Book by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich (Headline Home, £27)
